The House Behind the Reeds
by YellowBeeDee
Summary: Bella's mother runs an inn during the summer months. This summer however is Bella's last summer at the inn. This also happens to be the summer the Cullen Family decides to have a family vacation before the youngest, Edward, moves on with his life. Rated M
1. Preface

**A/N: This has been nagging at me for sometime now and I really needed to get it out of my system. I do plan to continue with this story, but right now my main priority _Pictures of Music. _Maybe when I get a few more chapters in on _PoM_ I'll post a chapter or two, to continue this, _if_ any interests are piqued my this.**

**_Twilight_ belongs to SM. **

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Preface

We laid there on top of the dirty floorboards, our naked bodies intertwined under the thin bed sheet, looking into each other's eyes. He was my first. My first 'everything' having to do with an intimate relationship. My first kiss. My first boyfriend. And now my first lover.

I stared so deep into his eyes I knew I could see his soul. My heart swelled with the knowledge that I loved him so much, I wanted to almost cry. Our summer together has been the best summer of my life. From the first time we saw each other to now; the most pivotal moment of it all.

I savored the feelings I felt as much I could. Our nights like this were limited. The summer was drawing to an end and we would both be off to carry on our lives apart, not knowing if we'd ever see each other again.

The thought brought tears to my eyes as I nuzzled my face into his neck. I wished I could keep him forever.

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**A/N: So if you liked this, please review!**

**Oh and sorry if anyone got two emails for this story. I submitted/posted it or whatever, then I deleted it because I need to make some changes to it. So then I submitted/posted it again! lol**

**Much Love! :)**


	2. Oral Persuasion

A/N: Ta-da! Vwa-la! And all of the other phrases that essentially mean 'and there you go'. Chap-a-ter 1 of _The House Behind the Reeds_!

The idea of this came from watching _The Notebook_ a gazillion fucking times. No joke. My friends and I were having a _Notebook_ marathon/contest across the US. I won fourth place with a total of 53 viewings of the movie. I know, I know, it's sad. I have no life. I just quit my job so I have _a lot_ of free time...

So it's basically that, but different... And it's AU. They're in Texas. And slightly OOC? I guess?

Oh _and_ this is _all_ Bella's point of view. I find that it's easier to write when I'm not jumping around to different perspectives.

_Twilight_ belongs to Stephenie Meyer. As for the Sunburst company, well I don't know if there is anything real about it. It was meant to be fictional, but I'm too lazy to Google it. So here is a disclaimer anyways: I have nothing to do with any type of company with the name 'Sunburst'.

There. Now I'm content.

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_We are pleased to inform you, Miss Isabella M. Sawn, that you have been chosen to be apart of the Sunburst Marketing Agency fall internship program. You are one of twenty people chosen out of the hundreds that had applied. We at the Sunburst Marketing Agency headquarters, in New York City, are happy to have you on our internship staff and hope one day you will be an official member of the Sunburst family…_

I have no idea how many times I've read that first paragraph of my acceptance letter to Sunburst. I was so excited when I got it in the mail back in Phoenix, I literally didn't sleep for a week. My eyes were glued to the paper like my life depended on it. Which it did. My future depended on it.

I've been into the whole advertising/marketing shit ever since my mom, Renée, opened this here inn. After everything was setup and hospitable, no one came. I took the liberty of getting the word out by drawing up a logo of sorts, and posted flyers all over Galveston Island here in Texas.

The story of how my mom got her hands on the inn could be considered spiteful, but I just consider it 'mom after she's had a good night's sleep'. Her and my dad, Charlie, were always at each other's throats with acts of vengeance to get back at one another. After my dad left —when I was eight and Emmett, my brother, was ten—to live with his pregnant mistress, my mom took the three of us on a vacation to Galveston.

We stayed here in the little inn by the beach for a week and after that week the owner said she was going to sell the place. My mom really liked the idea of an inn… and the idea of getting back at Charlie. So she bought the inn.

She considered it her final 'suck it' to Charlie. I mean that literally. The whole time she was writing the check all she kept saying was, "Your father can suck it one last time" (because they still had a joint bank account, so she was technically spending part of his money). They got divorced a month later and we now have an open-every-summer inn to show for it. And it was worth it; the divorce and the check for twenty-six thousand dollars. Emmett and I don't have to hear them bitching and fighting or scheming all the time now, and every summer we get a nice flow of customer that help make up for the money spent.

Life is happier now.

This is my last summer here though. What with the internship, I have to move to New York. And I'm terrified. I've never traveled out of any state without my mom… and I'm only eighteen. Emmett lives in New York with his girlfriend, Jessica, so I'm going to stay with them until I can find a place, but… it's still scary, big brother with me or not.

"Bella! Come down here please!" I had just laid down on my bed when she started shouting from down stairs. I hated when she did stuff like that. It takes only two fucking seconds to walk up some stairs and be at my bedroom door. But no.

"Goddamn it, mother. Either you want me to clean the windows upstairs," I lied as I clumped down the stairs; I wasn't cleaning, "or you want me down here. Which is it?"

When I got down to the last step, I saw her standing behind the counter in the foyer, and a family of five in front of her. They smiled awkwardly when they saw me. Renee turned and smiled too.

"Bella, honey, watch your language please?" she ever-so-slightly gestured to the people in front of her. I nodded then. "And you weren't cleaning. You left the window stuff right by the stairs." She pointed to my feet and sure enough there was the bucket filled with a Windex bottle and an old rag. _Damn it._ I was caught. I rolled my eyes at her before I walked to stand by her behind the counter.

"What do you need?" I asked.

"Could you show the Cullens to their rooms please?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Thank you, hon." Then she turned back to the infamous Cullens and started explaining the eating schedule around here. You know, breakfast served at seven a.m., lunch at twelve, and dinner around six. Nothing new or interesting.

I call then infamous because we usually get our first booking around mid-April from Mrs. Turner. That old lady had been coming here every summer since before we owned the joint. But this year, we booked our first people, the Cullen family, back in March. Ever since then, mom has practically been running around with her head cut off trying to make things as perfect as she could from Phoenix for the early-bird, new-comers. The last time I _didn't_ here her say anything about them was when I was in my room by myself.

She dropped three keys into my hand and pointed to the direction of the rooms.

I walked to the rooms on the first floor first. The rooms down there were bigger and I assumed the two adults, mom and dad I supposed, would want the extra space. I gave them the key to the room then head back to the stairs, motioning for the rest to follow.

When we were about halfway up I started asking questions. I didn't really care what their answers were, I was just being polite.

"So what are your names?"

One of the girls behind me answered first. "I'm Alice." Her voice was so I high pitched I had to resist the urge to cover my ears. Once we were at the top I turned so I could get a better look at them. The girl that I assumed was the one to answer me had short, back pixie-like hair. What with her hair and her short stature, if she had wings she could very well be pixie.

She continued, pointing to the beautiful blond next to her. "This is my cousin Rosalie Hale."

How glad I am blonde hair and I _don't_ mix. If we did, I would be plotting ways to ruin her beautiful tresses out of jealousy. Not only did she have good hair, but she was stunning every where else.

"Hi," she said in a luscious sounding, soprano voice, and giving me a little wave. I nodded back, smiling politely.

"And," Alice continued moving her hand from Rosalie to the guy on her opposite side, "this is my brother, Edward."

I looked up at him and was instantaneously aware of his piercing green eyes. They were so pretty…

"Hi." His voice broke my staring. It was a deep, tenor voice that made my eyes glaze over and my knees weak.

"H-hi." My voice faltered. _The hell?_ No one was ever reduced me to stuttering before. This was a first.

I turned back around to retain what little resolve I had left and proceeded to their rooms. I looked at the keys in my hand. One of them had the number fifteen painted on the back of it. I assumed that room would be for Alice and Rosalie since it had two beds in it. When we reached the door I unlocked the room and handed then the key. They went in hauling their five massive suitcases, each. Shit; I only had two bags with me and one of them was for New York only.

When they were in I looked back down at the last key I had in hand. It was for room eight. _Whaaat?_ I thought to myself. That room was right next to mine, and we never used it because the door was for shit. It always stuck to the frame. Mom must have grabbed the wrong key by mistake. Well that's Renée for you. If she's not scheming, she's forgetting.

I started walking back past the stairs to the opposite side of the second floor. It was awkward having him walk behind me. I couldn't differentiate his footfalls from mine, causing me to think he wasn't there with me at all.

Right before I got to the door, I looked behind me at him, and he was there…staring at the ground. I cleared my throat and pointed to the door ahead. He looked up and smiled sheepishly like he'd been caught doing something suspicious. I half smiled half grimaced back at him. I couldn't tell which one was more predominant; the smile or the grimace. I shook my head as I turned back towards the door. This kid was a little weird, but definitely made up for it with his looks.

I put the key into the reserved hole and turned it to the left. I heard the click, indicating it was unlocked and crossed my fingers internally that the door wouldn't stick. _Who the fuck an I kidding?_ I turned the knob to the right, and sure enough the damned thing was stuck. I tired again. Nothing.

I was about to try again when I was interrupted by shouting form downstairs.

"Isabella. Marie. Swan. Get your lily-ass down here now!"

As soon as I heard the words 'lily-ass', I smiled big, and goofy, dropping the key in my hands and forgetting the person with me.

I sprinted down the stairs, tripping on my poor excuses for feet. When I was safely on the first floor I continued my sprint and nearly tackled her.

"Angela! Ah, I've missed you _so_ fucking much!"

"Girl, I've missed you too. We need to do some serious catching up."

We bolted out the front door to the inn and walked behind it toward the beach.

Angela and I have been best friends since the first time I was down here. Every summer we're attached at the hip; practically sisters. I even call her parents 'mom and dad" and she calls Renee 'mom'.

It's like we were made for each other. She can tell the best dirty jokes involving nuns without even blushing the slightest and… well I've just got a mouth so dirty, public restrooms can't compete.

You know the saying, "a good friend bails you out of jail, but a best friend is sitting next to you saying, 'that shit was fun', or something like that? Angela's _always _the one next to me_._

"God, I haven't fucking talked to you in a month!" I said, linking my arm into the crook of her elbow. "What's goin' down in the town?"

"Oh, you know; same ole, same shit."

We both laughed as soon as the words came out. We had come up with that back when we were ten. Ah, the clever ones we are. Ever since then, that would always be my answer when some one asked me 'How's it going?' or some other variation of it.

"Nothing really?" I had stopped for a second to pick up a flat rock. I had intended to skip it in the ocean, but I most likely succeeded in bopping a fish in the head. I picked up another rock and waited for her answer.

"Well… Ben and I… well…—" I cut her off then.

"'You're killin' me smalls.' Spit it out already."

She huffed and looked me dead in the eyes. "Ben and I had sex."

I dropped the rock as soon as she said that, and felt the hot sand blanket my feet. Ben was another best friend. He was more like a very close cousin. He has been in love with Angela forever. They just started dating about three years ago.

"Well, holy-fuck, Angela. 'Bout damn time. I figured you two would still be virgins at your fiftieth anniversary."

She just laughed and shook her head as she linked our arms back together and pushed us further along the beach.

"So..? How was it?"

Her face lit up and a goofy grin spread across her face. "Abso-fucking-lutely amazing! Better than a naughty nun joke." Her face fell after, and her eyebrows knitted. "But it took a few times…"

"What do you mean 'a few times'"

"Well… the first time we _tried_, it hurt too much. It was too big."

"Big?" I asked shocked. She just waved her hand to shush me.

"Yeah, and the second time, it was better. We got the momentum going. But I couldn't get to the 'holy-hallelujah' part of it; it was still kind of uncomfortable. He did, thought, which is good." I just stared at her trying my damnedest not to say anything. I was still reeling from the fact that Ben was apparently well endowed. "And then the third time, well… Holy-hallelujah!" she lifted her hands up in praise and looked up the blue sky.

She knew it was coming. I knew she knew. It was too good to pass up. "So…little Ben Cheney… has a 'Big Ben'?" She just rolled her eyes and nodded. "Well, hell. Who'da thunk it?" She laughed then.

"So have you… yet?"

"Nope. Not yet. No one has offered me the proposal that I couldn't refuse." Yes. A virgin I am. And damn, fucking proud of it too.

"You'll get yours one day" Angela said reassuringly. "But you can't joke that it'll be with Ben anymore. His virgin flower was already plucked by me, so he is of no use to you. And I keep it behind my ear to prove it." She pulled her hair back to point to the invisible flower.

She must be joking. Making inappropriate jokes like that was my thing. I've never had feelings for Ben that weren't family-like, but that was how we got along. We both knew he was for Angela, anyways.

"Okay, grandma with your 'flower' talk. He's off limits. I get it. But you know… the thought of him with a massive hard-on…I'm all wet." She laughed and pushed me on the shoulder.

We continued like that for a while, joking and catching up. Angela even told me a joke about a rabbi, a priest, a monk, and the pope at the zoo.

We had stopped talking to sober up from the laugh-fest the joke brought on. When she was all giggled-out, she turned to me with an awkward/serious look on her face.

"Bella… I know it's probably not my place to ask, but… is he coming back?"

Ah, yes. I knew who she was talking about. But I didn't ant to talk about it. "Who?" I asked too innocently. She saw right through it.

"Don't you fucking play dumb with me. You know who I'm talking about. Jasper? Ring any bells?"

Jasper.

Jasper had started coming to the inn with his family two years ago. He was from Dallas, so he had a very distinguishable twang in his voice. Right from the get-go the four of us—me, Angela, Ben, and Jasper—got along and did everything together.

Angela and Ben had already been together for a year, so any time it was just us around, they would start to make-out. Jasper and I would make fun of them, giving each other little kisses on the cheeks, fluctuating our voices to sound like them. That was only the first summer though.

The second summer—last summer—_he _started to initiate the fake make-out sessions. The first time he did it we were watching a movie at Angela's house. She and Ben started to go at it, and Jasper thought it would be a good time for some ridicule. I was too caught up in the movie to realize what he was doing. We were watching _Dirty Dancing_ for crying out loud. You let nothing distract you when it's on.

He leaned over me and placed a soft kiss on my lips. It wasn't bad or anything, but what the fuck? I pushed him off of me looking at him like he'd lost his mind. He looked hurt then and I felt wretched for pushing him away. I was starting to like him before then, but I wasn't ready for something like that. With anyone. Even it was just a kiss. I don't even consider it my "first kiss", only more of an assault to my unsuspecting lips.

Then next day I called him and told him to meet me at the beach in an hour. I had been up all night debating the idea of Jasper and me. I decided that I didn't want things to be weird with us, so I set some ground rules. We could give each other kisses, but they had to stay away from the mouth area. He really got into sucking on my neck. I don't know how many hickies I had to hide from Renee.

Toward the end of the summer he had moved onto groping me. Now I know I have a way with four letter words and a knack for sexually suggestive conversations, but I was never actually ready for any other the stuff I joked about to actually happen. I'm still not. I liked Jasper a lot but I had to end it when I started getting uncomfortable. He left the island with the saddest look on his face… It hurts to think about him sometimes.

"Bella," Angela's voice brought me out of my reverie and back to the present.

"Can we just drop the subject please?" she looked like she was about to say no, but then my phone rang in the pocket of my shorts. She nodded her head, belatedly answering me as I flipped open the phone.

"Hello?"

"Bella, honey, I know you and Angela are catching up right now but I need you to come home real quick."

"Why?"

"Well, Edward couldn't get the door to his room open, so Gustavo went up stairs to try and… well we need a new door. And I was wondering if you could run down to the hardware store for a new one."

"Yeah. Angela and I will be back in a sec."

"Thanks hon."

I hung up the phone then and turned to look at Angela.

"Wanna go to the Home Depot? We need a new door for the shit-sty inn."

She laughed and nodded. "Ben should be off of work now. I can call him and ask if we can use his truck."

"Okie-dokie" I linked our arms together again as she called Ben, officially ending the conversation from before.

By the time we got back to the inn, Ben was already there leaning against his white Ford Tundra. When he was about ten feet away, I ran the rest of the way and attacked him with a hug. He scooped me up in his arms and swung me around in a full circle. I gave him a big wet one on his cheek before he put me down.

"Well, Benny-boy; how's it hangin'?" I couldn't help the innuendo in my question. To my pleasure his eyes widened then he regained his composure and smiled knowingly at me. He knew Angela was going to tell me. He probably didn't think I would bring it up so quickly though.

"Just fine, thank you. And what about you? How's my second best girl been?"

" Oh you know, been keeping busy. Angela was just telling me about the extra curricular activities the both of you have recently taken interest in." I looked over to Angela and snickered. Then I looked back to Ben and lowered my voice to a stage-whisper. "Ben, you think you could come over later? We could go down into the basement and… you know." I wagged my eyebrows up and down suggestively.

He was about to answer me but my yelp stopped him. Angela had pulled on my hair.

"Do I have to give you the 'he's off limits' lecture again?" she asked wedging herself between Ben and me with a smug smile.

"Lecture all you want. Lecture until you're blue in the face if you choose. Just know I'll always be on the sidelines waiting for you fumble… or what ever it is you do to get kicked off the court."

She rolled her eyes at me as I turned in the direction of the inn.

"You're mixing sports, you know?" she said behind me, I could hear that she was _trying_ to sound upset.

I turned back with a joking smile. "The fuck does it matter? I'll be there; that's what's important."

I turned back and cackled my way through the front door, leaving them to fondle each other, or whatever it is they do when left to themselves.

When I walked in Renee wasn't anywhere to be seen so I walked straight back to the kitchen because I was feeling a little hungry.

The first thing I saw was a platter full of big turkey sandwiches. The sight made my stomach growl fiercely. The only things I was aware of were the sandwiches and me. Nothing else. So I was a little surprised when I was swatted on the hand as I reached for the whole plate. I looked up and saw Gustavo standing in his kitchen apron with his arms folded across his chest.

"No, no, no. These for guests. For lunch. No just you." He spoke in his thick Mexican accent that I've grown so used to and often thought as fatherly.

"But I'm hungry!" I whined.

"No. you can wait. I had to break door because of you."

"You know my mother wouldn't like it if I starved because you're denying me food."

"Starve?" he scoffed. "You eat whole kitchen first night this summer." I had to laugh. It was true.

"Well I'm just as hungry right now as I was then."

"No! You wait."

I let out a huff through the corner of my mouth and continued our stare down. Then and idea came to me. It was childish; yes. Was I above it? Probably. But I did it anyway. I licked the palm of my hand and slapped it down on the sandwich right on to of the pile.

He glared at me and then gave up and waved his hand at me, "Take it. Go way." I smiled at him lovingly and grabbed the whole platter and turned to leave. "Why you no go put more clothes on before you mama leave you on street corner? Huh?"

I laughed and turned back to him. "That's actually where I was just headed. To the corner right in front of _La Cantina_. These are for my customers." He just rolled his eyes and went back to cooking.

As I walked out he muttered, "Niños estúpidos. No tienen ningún respeto."

"I love you too, Gustavo." I yelled back.

When I walked into the foyer I saw Renee leaning against the counter flipping through the magazine. There you are. I was looking for you" I said as I walked over to her.

"The hell do you think you're going to do with those? She asked eyeing the patter.

"They're for me, Ang, and Ben." I shrugged.

"All of them?"

"Yeah."

"No. You need to leave some here."

"Why are the people around here denying me food? Besides Gustavo already gave them to me."

"_Gave_ them to you?" she asked incredulous.

"Yes, 'gave'."

"No. I don't believe you. Put 'em back."

"So I used a little oral persuasion… he still gave then to me."

"You didn't lick them did you?" I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. "Oh Bella, that's wrong. There are other people in this inn besides you."

I rolled my eyes and put the platter on the counter and took four of the sandwiches on top; the first one being the one covered in my saliva. Four because, shit I was hungry. It was going to take more than one to satiate me.

"Speaking of other people in the inn, I need the money for the broken-door replacement. Why did you even check out that room in the first place? We never use it... because of the fucking door."

"Language. And I checked it out because I thought if we used it more often the door would stop sticking… I don't know."

"Shit lot of good that did. Damn thing's broken now." She rolled her eyes, handed me the money, and went back to her magazine.

I walked out the door, sandwiches in hand but stopped when I saw someone leaning against the exterior of the inn. I looked over and realized it was Edward.

"Hey." He jumped slightly and flicked something out of his hand. It looked like a cigarette butt. I walked over eyeing the ground where it fell.

"Hey," he said timidly, not looking at me.

"I don't know where you come from but around here we don't littler. It keeps the customers away," I said picking up the butt and handing it back to him.

"S-sorry."

"S'okay." I looked back behind me and I could see Angela and Ben making out on the driver's side of the truck. Figures. I turned back to Edward and he was looking at his feet. "So what are you doing out here by yourself? Besides polluting the air with smoke?" He looked up at me and smiled crookedly at me.

"Nothing too terribly fun."

"Well, you wanna come with us? We're going to get you a new door."

"Uh...Sure." he started to run his left foot along the patch of grass he was in front of as he continued to lean against the wall.

"Well, come on now. We wouldn't want you having to change your clothes in a door-less room. That wouldn't be very hospitable of us." An errant of him naked in his room crosses my mind... He nodded and followed me to the truck. "Do you want a sandwich?" I did have four, but as hungry as I was, I didn't want to be rude. He started to reach for the one on top. "Not that one!" I yelled. "Sorry… I licked that one."

He chuckled a little and muttered mostly to himself, "Oral persuasion."

Right then my face got red. "You heard that, did you?" I felt embarrassed. It was strange. Nothing ever embarrassed me; that's why I acted the way I did.

"Yeah but it was funny, so don't feel embarrassed." he said eyeing my red cheeks and took one of the other sandwiches from the bottom of the stack.

"Embarrassed, I am not. Creative, I am." I said giving him a wink.

We were at the car now and I really didn't want to wait until they each got a tongue-fucking version of a holy-hallelujah, so I banged on the side of the truck bed to get their attention. They both jumped at the noise and I smiled inwardly.

"Please swap spit on your own time. We're on a mission here. Mission: buy a new door. We can't have two of our agents cooped up in some utility closet, doing god-knows-what, when there are issues of extreme importance going on here."

"What the hell's with the spy/secret agent talk?" Angela asked, moving from between the truck and Ben.

"Felt like a James Bond moment" I shrugged.

"What's this?" Ben asked walking over to us. "Are you over me so quickly?"

"Never." I said giving him a devious smirk. "This is Edward. He's the one that needs a new door. Sandwich?

"You shouldn't hang out with the likes of her, Edward, She's trouble." Ben said this as both he and Angela took the last two sandwiches at the bottom. _Ah, they know me too well._

"Don't listen to them." I said shaking my head. "I'm an angel."

Edward looked at me incredulously. "That's why you go around licking food for you own enjoyment?"

"Touché. You learn fast. That's good. Well if you really wan to be in our club, you have to answer me this: If you were to choose between a blow-job from a five dollar whore with herpes or—"

"Do you have to ask that question to everyone you meet?" Ben asked interrupting me.

"Yes. Now shush. Okay, five dollar whore or sitting through two showings of _Disney on Ice_?"

"Ten bucks he says whore." Ben said.

"Ten; Disney." Angela said back.

They were taking bets behind us. I just kept my eyes locked on Edward's trying to keep control and not get lost in the green pools.

"Disney. Definitely," he said, nodding his head positively.

"Damn it" Ben muttered as he slapped a bill into Angela's hand.

"Disney? Really? Why?" I asked, incredulous.

"Yeah. And why the hell _not_? Anything Disney is classic. You don't choose a five dollar whore over _The Lion King_. You just don't."

I stared at him, my mouth gaping open. No one _ever_ chooses _Disney on Ice_. Apparently people had grown out of the whole Disney shit when they were five. I didn't though. So anytime anyone said "Disney" they were good in my book.

"No shit, Cullen. You know your stuff." I hooked my arm into the crease of his elbow and walked us to the back of the truck. Angela and Ben followed suit, but got into the driver's and passenger's seats.

I climbed over the tailgate of the truck and went to sit on the edge of the truck bed. Edward copied my actions, holding his sandwich in his mouth.

Ben started the truck and the vibrations from the engine coursed through me, making me shake. He stepped on the gas and the truck lurched forward violently and I slid down from my seat until I was on the stable, bed floor.

I laughed a little when I saw that Edward was still on the edge, but was gripping tightly at the side rails. So tight his knuckles were white. I tugged on his shirt to get his attention and pointed to the spot next to me. He slid down next to me giving me another crooked smile.

I liked that smile. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

"So where are you from? No one around these parts is as pale as you." I said running my fingers along the white of his arm.

"Washington. Forks. It's a few hours from Seattle." He shrugged and took a big bite of his sandwich.

What the hell kind of name is Forks for a city? Sure its not 'ladle' or 'spatula', but really? Has this country been so bombarded with the quitting of city-naming people that it has been reduced to naming towns after eating utensils? I exaggerate, sure, but for anyone not to be fazed by the name is astonishing.

"Forks." I said trying to sound like the name didn't annoy and confuse me to no end. "It sounds… interesting."

"Yeah, well if you're thinking that we have semi-annual parades in which we build fork-shaped floats, and play card games called 'Forks' instead of 'Spoons' then you're seriously mistaken. It's probably the most boring-as-fuck piece of land in the world."

I laughed at his little rant, and went to take a bite of my sandwich, catching a few strands of hair in my mouth due to the whipping wind. But fuck… I was stopped by a massive fly burrowing its way into the bread.

"Fuck!" I threw the infested, contaminated-with-god-knows-what-kinds-of-diseases-flies-carry sandwich over the side of the truck. "Damn it. I hadn't even had a bite of it yet."

"What was wrong with it?" Edward asked with his lips in a tight line like he was trying mot to laugh at my outburst.

"You didn't see the big-ass fly nesting in it?"

"No."

"It was _this_ big!" I made a circle with my thumb and forefinger, slightly exaggerating the size of the repulsive creepy-crawler.

I huffed away from him and stood on my knees to look through the back window, inside of the truck. My eyes stopped on an uneaten, untouched, pristine sandwich lying across a napkin. I started to bang on the window, letting my hunger control my actions now.

Angela whipped her head around to look at me. Thank the window gods for coming up with sliding back windows because if it wasn't for them I'd probably have to crawl over to one of the side windows, and that probably wouldn't be safe on a highway.

She reached over and unlatched the lock on the window and pulled it open for me. I stuck my head in and the sight of the food made the hungry monster inside me want to leap through the little glass hole and devour it.

"Who's sandwich is that?" I asked pointing with my chin in its direction.

"Uh, mine." Ben said still staring at the road. "Besides, you have your own."

"But… there was a bug on mine." I whined.

"Nuh-uh."

I scooted out from the window, defeated, and slouched next to Edward.

"Can you believe the people around here? I didn't even eat breakfast this morning. I was up half the night working my fucking ass off, fixing up that shit-hole of an inn." I had my hands flailing and whooping in the air as I let out my hunger induced aggression. "Asshole!" I yelled through the still open window. Either he chose to ignore me or I just couldn't hear him over the wind, but nothing came back at me.

"Do you want the rest of mine?" Edward asked, reaching his turkey sandwich filled hand over to me. It was half eaten and glorious. _Aw, he's nice;_ I though to myself.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. It's good to feed the hungry. It gives you morality points right?"

"That's true in my book." I said grabbing the half-wich. Then the truck jerked to a stop, and it flew out of my hand. "_Fucking_—"

"It's okay. I got it right here." Edward had caught it before it touched the dirty truck bed.

And all these years I thought chivalry died when my goldfish did…

I laughed breathlessly and retrieved it yet again. I made sure to take a big quick bite before I moved any other part of me, so I could ensure I had _something_ in my stomach. It ended up being two. Then three. Then all that was left was a bite-size bit of crust. With that being the only thing left, I figured it was okay to get out without any harm coming to the poor little bit.

I hate the half-wich within a matter of seconds… Ben and Angela were still getting out of their seats when I stood up.

Edward sprang up next to me and we both hopped over the tailgate and waited for the other two together.

Once we were altogether and walking through the double doors of the Home Depot, I popped the last bit into my mouth and swallowed it whole.

"I thought your sandwich had a bug in it?" Angela asked eyeing me and my chewing jaw.

"It did. That was Edward's. _He_ was nice enough to give me the rest of his." I threw a pointed glance then at Ben, who was rolling his eyes at me.

"You know, you shouldn't have given it to her." She said to Edward seriously. "She's like that strange cat that just happened to stumble upon your porch one day. You feel bad for it, so give it some food. Then the next day its there again. You give it more food. Then it becomes this annoying, daily routine, and you'll have no one to blame but yourself because you shouldn't have given food to the damn cat in the first place."

"You're damn Skippy I'm a cat." I said crouching slightly. "I'm sneaky and tricky like the best of the felines."

"I wasn't complementing you Bella, dear," she sighed exasperated.

"Why must you two always hate on my witty character?"

"Needy it not witty, Bella."

"I am not needy. Edward, I'm not _needy_. I'm just too lazy to rely on myself for certain things. And that's the honest truth. Don't you think it's and Endearing quality?" I widened my eyes and smiled pleasantly at him as we walked toward the 'door' section, hoping he would pick my side.

"Very endearing indeed." He smiled slyly at me then looked back forward; the smile never breaking.

I don't know what it was, but something about the smile made me feel high and light headed. I couldn't find more exact words for it. It did however make me blush. I felt my face get hot and was unusually aware for my heartbeat. It was thudding loud in my ears.

*****

We searched up and down the home improvement isles for an hour but could find what we need. We found doors, sure, but we didn't know which one to get. One that opened in and to the left? One that opened out and to the right? I had no fucking clue. Renee wasn't answering her phone, so she was of no use.

We had all given up after a while and had wandered over to the paint section where we just stared at the paint samples.

"Ben…" Angela said, "let's go over… to the garden section." She kept shifting her eyes toward the opposite side of the building, obviously hoping for some _alone_ time in the patio furniture section. They walked away hand-in-hand, not being very discreet.

"If you two get caught with your pants down, don't come crying to us." I yelled after them. They ignored me, as per usual. "Well looks like it's just the two of now. Let us reek havoc." I pulled on Edwards hand so he would follow me.

About halfway down the power tools isle, I stopped mid-step at the sickening smell of Abercrombie brand cologne coming from the next isle over...

Mike fucking Newton.

Right as I was about to make a run for it I saw his head poke around the corner and we make eye contact.

"Bella!"

"Put your are around me." I said to Edward, low and pleading.

He looked confused, but then a strange light came into his eyes and he nodded, wrapping his arm around my waist. Once Mike was about five feet away, I leaned into Edward. The harsh smelling sent emanating off of Mike was cut off by a different smell then; a sweet smell. I realized quickly that it was coming from Edward.

"You smell _really_ good." I whispered to him the second before Mike was in hearing distance. And that sly smile came back to his face, mixing with the crooked one.

If he wasn't careful, I could very well fall in love with those lips of his.

* * *

A/N: I've never been to Galveston, but I hear it's a nice place to go. I figured it would be a good summer setting.

And if anyone is confused...

1. Bella is _not_ after Ben. They're dynamic is based upon sexually suggestive comments about one another. Ben is an Angela guy, and as long as I'm writing this, he'll stay that way. Not-so-much-of-a-spoiler alert: this is gonna be ExB

2. Edward will not be the shy type as he seems to be in this chapter. He's only acting this way because it's his first day in a different climate/area. He's not used to it. At least that's what I meant by his behavior.

3. As for canon couples; yes...

Well I hope this is well received.

Shameless plug alert: Check out _Pictures of Music_ too, please. Leave a review if you like it. Hell, leave a review for this one first if you're gonna take the time at all. It would be greatly appreciated.

Much Love!


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